Pistol caliber lever rifle barrel length

Teapot said:
What is the best lever rifle barrel length for each of the various calibers (357, 44Mag, 45 LC)? I mean in terms of making the most of the propellant and being efficient.
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I do not know the answer, but if it's at all useful, my Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt has a 20" barrel and 8gr of Unique with a 250gr bullet gives about 1100 fps.

Chris.
 
That's three different cartridges, three or four barrel lengths and unknown cartridges to factor in. You're going at it backward a little. If you tell everyone what you want, we could talk about a cartridge and barrel length that can achieve it.

With handloading you can choose a faster or slower burning powder to tailor the load to your needs. I can shoot my 24" barrel 357 magnum Puma with 38 special rounds powered by Bullseye much slower than 1000fps, or the Lyman Reloading Handbook 49th Edition says I can push a 357 magnum 110 grain bullet to 2291fps using 20 grains of 2400.

Here's a nice article about pushing the limits with the 357 magnum
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/357_magnum_and_the_literature.htm

and one about developing a cat sneeze 38 special
http://shilohtv.com/?p=3142
 
I'm sure you could get any of them to work, but it would make sense if you want deer to stick with the 44 especially if you don't plan on reloading. The limiting factor will likely be the sights and how well you can use irons.

My 24" 357 Puma has buckhorn sights and they really bother me. I'm so used to lining up the front sight with the top of the rear that I'm probably going to get a different rear sight, maybe a marbles tang, (or is it lyman?).

The way I'm using mine right now I wouldn't want to shoot at a deer at more than 75 yards and 50 would make me much happier. This isn't even taking bullet performance into account, just the ability to hit an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. I might feel different after loading up some special rifle rounds with a little more juice.

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/guns/41754-rossi-357-magnum-close-range-deer.html
http://50caliberforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=thewinchester1892forum&action=display&thread=2067
 
SoBored said:
I'm sure you could get any of them to work, but it would make sense if you want deer to stick with the 44 especially if you don't plan on reloading. The limiting factor will likely be the sights and how well you can use irons.

My 24" 357 Puma has buckhorn sights and they really bother me. I'm so used to lining up the front sight with the top of the rear that I'm probably going to get a different rear sight, maybe a marbles tang, (or is it lyman?).

The way I'm using mine right now I wouldn't want to shoot at a deer at more than 75 yards and 50 would make me much happier. This isn't even taking bullet performance into account, just the ability to hit an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. I might feel different after loading up some special rifle rounds with a little more juice.

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/guns/41754-rossi-357-magnum-close-range-deer.html
http://50caliberforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=thewinchester1892forum&action=display&thread=2067
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Take a look at Skinner sights. He makes a peep sight that fits the dovetail on your Rossi. I have ordered one and should have it on the rifle next week if teh Post Office works like they should. I may go with a FO front sight with it as well. I want to work with teh factory front initially.

Take Care

Bob
 
short carbines

I have two winchester trappers with 16in. barrels .357 and 30/30 have taken deer with both always under 100yds so far. would recomend 150grbullets or heavier in both
 
My 16" Marlin 1894 .44Mag propels 240gr. XTP's to almost 1700fps. I'd shoot any deer out to 125M if the shot was right.
 
My own experience is out of Ruger 6 inchs Fiocchi ammo Extrema 200 grs in 44 mag give me 1500 fps, out of my 77 44 Ruger carbine 18.5 inches tube it a few fps over 2000, that an enormous gain for 12.5 inches more of barrel and quite accurate to, it a totally different animal out of the carbine, incredible deer rifle... JP.
 
From my own experience and reading on the Cast Boolit forum it seems 11" is the break point for gain in velocity in carbines. I am sure to some extent it is powder dependent but I have found I gain approx. 150 to 250 fps when using my 20" Rossis/Beretta Storm over the same loaded rounds shot in my revolvers and pistols.

Full load .44mag rounds shot out of my Rossi do hurt as recoil is er rather noticiable. I would think full load .45Colt loads out of a 16" carbine would let you know when you pull the trigger as well. While handy, the 16" guns for hunting do give up some sight radius to the 20" guns. If you are going to use the gun for hunting I would go with a 20" or 22" gun over the 16" myself. For just packing in the bush for protection the 16" would be handier in close quarters.

Take Care

Bob
 
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